To describe or to just document: making a case for the Fauna Portal using money spiders (Araneae: Linyphiidae).

Volker W. Framenau (Murdoch University); Heiko Metzner (psbrands).

The Fauna Portal Australia (www.faunaportal.org) is an innovative identification platform conceptualised for invertebrates, although it can be used for any faunal (and floral) group. It offers a unique filter for diagnostic images that allows to examine morphological characters in the same view side-by-side at the genus and family level. Geographic filters further allow restricting the choice of taxa for identification. A simple molecular module allows downloading species-specific sequence data. The Fauna Portal therefore provides a one-stop-shop for species identification, particularly in groups that have been taxonomically treated in scattered publications. Almost 1,000 Australian spider species are now online. Through the application of core taxonomic principles (designation of a reference specimen or ‘type’ and obligatory diagnosis) the Fauna Portal also facilitates the stable listing of undescribed species using a simple numerical parataxonomic code. This rapid documentation of biodiversity data has the potential to speed up taxonomy as a stopgap until species are formally described. The principles of the Fauna Portal will be presented using a poorly known spider family as exemplar, the sheet-web or money spiders (Linyphiidae). This is the second largest spider family world-wide and the current assumption that it is poorly represented in Australia is contested here.